Paone Lifts Virginia Over Cal to Even Series

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Behind a dazzling pitching performance from John Paone, the No. 23 Virginia baseball team (33-17, 13-13 ACC) downed the Cal Golden Bears (26-24, 9-17 ACC) 2-1 on Saturday afternoon (May 9) at Disharoon Park.

 

In the longest outing by a Cavalier pitcher this season, Paone tossed 7.2 innings of one-run ball and fanned a season-high nine batters. Despite outdueling Cal’s Gavin Eddy, Paone was dealt a no-decision. Tyler Kapa picked up his second win of the campaign on Saturday in relief.

 

On a day when runs were hard to come by, the Virginia offense manufactured a run in the seventh and eighth innings, which proved enough to even the series.

 

Antoino Perrotta went 2-for-2 with a double in the contest, while Joe Tiroly added a base knock to pace the UVA offense.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Paone retired the first four batters he faced on Saturday afternoon before allowing a solo home run to Cal’s Carl Schmidt. The long ball over the right field wall proved to be the Bears’ only run of the contest.
• Following the home run, Paone only allowed one more base hit over the final 6.1 innings of his outing.
• Perrotta broke up the no-hit bid by Cal’s Eddy with a sharply hit single up the middle in the home half of the fifth.
• An inning later, Paone’s dominance continued as the freshman struck out the side in the top of the sixth.
• In the bottom of the seventh, Kyle Johnson worked a one-out walk before advancing to third on a Perrotta double down the line in left. Two at-bats later, Johnson scampered home to tie the game at 1-1 on a dropped third strike that got away from the Cal catcher.
• To cap off the best outing of his young UVA career, Paone struck out the first two batters he faced before handing the ball over to Kapa in the eighth inning.
• Just like a frame before, Virginia capitalized on a one-out walk when Harrison Didawick worked a free pass. Didawick took advantage of a Cal fielding error to advance to third from first before scoring the game-winning run on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Jake Weatherspoon.
• The Bears threatened with a pair of runners in the ninth inning before Kapa slammed the door with a ground ball to third.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• John Paone’s nine strikeouts are the most by a Virginia freshman pitcher since Tomas Valincius fanned 10 against Rice on Feb. 16, 2025, as part of the Puerto Rico Challenge.
• Saturday’s pitching duel marked the first time this season that UVA scored two or fewer runs in a game and won.
• Virginia improves to 31-0 on the year when leading after eight innings.
• Tyler Kapa has not surrendered a run in 17 of his 21 appearances this season.
• Antoino Perrotta made his first career start at first base on Saturday.

FROM COACH CHRIS POLLARD:

"We really like where he (Paone) has been at and the velocity has continued to tick up. We have just protected him by not having him go a third time through the lineup and today, we just needed him to and he was up to the task. It was really impressive that was obviously the deepest that he has worked into a ballgame. It was the deepest that he has worked into a lineup and he just kept executing. His ability to pitch inside with the two-seamer was really, really good.” 

UP NEXT

With the series hanging in the balance, No. 23 Virginia will hand the ball to Kyle Johnson (1-2) in the weekend finale on Sunday. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. with Senior Day and Mother’s Day festivities scheduled to start at 12:35 p.m. at Disharoon Park. The contest will be carried on ACCNX and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM).